Oskar Morgenstern

Oskar Morgenstern
Oskar Morgenstern
Born January 24, 1902(1902-01-24)
Görlitz, Germany
Died July 26, 1977(1977-07-26) (aged 75)
Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
Residence Austria, U.S.
Nationality German, Austrian, and American
Fields Economics
Institutions

Princeton University

Mathematica Policy Research
Alma mater University of Vienna
Known for Theory of Games and Economic Behavior

Oskar Morgenstern (January 24, 1902 – July 26, 1977) was a German-born Austrian-School economist.[1] He, along with John von Neumann, helped found the mathematical field of game theory (see von Neumann–Morgenstern utility theorem).

Morgenstern was born in Görlitz, Germany. His mother was said to be an illegitimate daughter of Emperor Frederick III of Germany.[2][3][4][5][6]

He was educated in Vienna, and was a recipient of a three year fellowship financed by the Rockefeller Foundation. When Adolf Hitler took over Vienna through the Anschluss, Morgenstern was in the United States and decided it would be a good idea to stay. He became a member of the faculty at Princeton University, but gravitated toward the Institute for Advanced Study. His first book was "Economic Prediction". In 1944, he and von Neumann co-wrote Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, recognized as the first book on game theory. Morgenstern also wrote the book "On the accuracy of economic observations". He applied game theory to business. He died in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States.

References

  1. ^ Oskar Morgenstern
  2. ^ E. Roy Weintraub, Evelyn L. Forget Economists' lives: biography and autobiography in the history of economics p.234, Duke University Press Books (December 6, 2007)
  3. ^ The New York Times biographical service, vol.8, p.276, New York Times & Arno Press, 1977
  4. ^ Jürg Niehans A history of economic theory: classic contributions, 1720-1980, p.394, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990
  5. ^ Jörg Bewersdorff Luck, logic, and white lies: the mathematics of games, p.368, A K Peters/CRC Press (November 23, 2004)
  6. ^ Christian Fleck Transatlantische Bereicherungen: zur Erfindung der empirischen Sozialforschung, Suhrkamp, 2007

Game theorist Morgenstern dies. Science, Aug.12, 1977; 197: 649.

Bibliography

  • Morgenstern, Oskar (1950, 2nd rev. ed. 1963). On the accuracy of economic observations. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. xiv+322. 
  • Morgenstern, Oskar; Granger, Clive W. J. (1970). Predictability of stock market prices. Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books (D. C. Heath and Company). pp. xxiii+303. 
  • Oskar Morgenstern, "Thirteen Critical Points in Contemporary Economic Theory: An Interpretation," Journal of Economic Literature 10, no. 4 (December 1972): 1184
- reprinted in Selected Economic /writings by Oskar Morgenstern, Andrew Schotter, ed. (New York: New York University Press, 1976), p. 288.
  • Kemeny, John G.; Morgenstern, Oskar; Thompson, Gerald L. (1956). "A generalization of the von Neumann model of an expanding economy". Econometrica 24: pp. 115-135. JSTOR 1905746. MR80573. 
  • Morgenstern, Oskar; Thompson, Gerald L. (1976). Mathematical theory of expanding and contracting economies. Lexington Books. Lexington, Massachusetts: D. C. Heath and Company. pp. xviii+277. 
  • Oskar Morgenstern Papers at Duke University

External links


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